Trip report and a lesson learned

[ArmyLifer]

Came up to north GA yesterday towing the trailer, about a four hour drive. Your opinion on towing with the refrigerator on may vary, but I do. Anyway, when I unplugged from the house I assumed that the refrigerator had switched over to gas. When I arrived I hung out with my buddy for a couple of hours before checking the fridge. Apparently it had faulted out at some point and was almost 60 degrees inside. The food inside still seemed cold but it’s a bit scary.

Lessons learned: check to ensure the fridge successfully switches over to gas before departing. Check fridge is working immediately upon arrival.

This is my first trip “boondocking”. I’m using a generator to top off the battery and run the coffee maker. So far so good.

We had some serious rain last night as the leading edge of Delta hit us. It’s actually pretty peaceful up here. It’s a great location. Picture from my buddy’s back yard. Two more nights and head home Monday.

[Scott'n'Wendy]

Looks like a nice place. Glad I'm not cutting the grass though....
I too travel with the fridge on and I check it before I leave, at every fuel stop, and when I'm setting up. Not a fan of warm beer.

[Ynot4me2]

X2

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[Richter]

We don’t keep it on when on the road, but I use a remote display with sensors in both the fridge and freezer. I keep the remote in the console, so my wife checks it every once in a while just to see that it’s okay. When we are on-site, it goes on the front counter, visible when we come in the door.

We keep large containers of ice in the freezer while plugged in, so that they are frozen solid. Just before departure, we move them down to the fridge and shut it down. These keep the fridge about 3-5 degrees colder than it usually runs. Once we arrive, the ice blocks go back into the freezer and when we leave a few days later, they are frozen solid once again.

We never have to open the fridge or freezer to check the temp, so no cold “gets away”. We have found that the digital readout on the outside of the fridge is close to worthless. It will tell me that the fridge is 32-33 most of the time, unless it is above about 40-45 or higher.

[NASCAR9]

We don’t keep it on when on the road, but I use a remote display with sensors in both the fridge and freezer. I keep the remote in the console, so my wife checks it every once in a while just to see that it’s okay. When we are on-site, it goes on the front counter, visible when we come in the door.

Tell us more about the above. Brand/Model maybe pictures. Asking a lot, it seems you have a very nice monitor.

[SteveTN]

I run with the fridge on, it just stays on Auto. I used to not worry about it but last year we ran the Natchez Trace and our fridge faulted out. Of course it was at the beginning of the trip where the fridge was full of the food my wife had prepared for the trip. Ended up buying coolers and ice in a hurry to save the food. Now when I stop I go listen by the fridge vent on the outside, I can usually hear the gas burner running. If I can't hear that then I go in and check it.

On the earlier trip we were able to get the fridge running but had to reset the over temp board with a magnet every time we stopped. Turns out the manufacturer had a recall and our local repair facility fixed it for free.

[OurNewEra]

I am in the fridge running on propane while on the road camp. When I told my DW that I was intending on running the fridge she was not in favor. Actually totally against. On our first trip we pre-cooled fridge for three days on 110v. Day before departure she put the groceries in the fridge.

Trip day was about 4-1/2 hr drive no cooling on the fridge. Got to campsite and fridge inside was about 60 deg. It then took about 3 hours to get it back below 40 deg.

That is when I explained they the fridge is not a Yeti cooler. She also thought the flame was a big burner like in the water heater. I explained it was more like a pilot light. We now travel with the fridge running on propane. And yes I am aware of all the potential risks involved.

[livinthelife]

I am in the fridge running on propane while on the road camp. When I told my DW that I was intending on running the fridge she was not in favor. Actually totally against. On our first trip we pre-cooled fridge for three days on 110v. Day before departure she put the groceries in the fridge.

Trip day was about 4-1/2 hr drive no cooling on the fridge. Got to campsite and fridge inside was about 60 deg. It then took about 3 hours to get it back below 40 deg.

That is when I explained they the fridge is not a Yeti cooler. She also thought the flame was a big burner like in the water heater. I explained it was more like a pilot light. We now travel with the fridge running on propane. And yes I am aware of all the potential risks involved.

We used to run the fridge (on propane) when we traveled. The I started reading about how it's a risk, including how we should be turning it off while fueling (which we never did), I started being worried all the time we'd do it. Yes, we continued to do it, as I would be worrying about the food in the fridge maintaining cold while traveling if we didn't.

We had a big trip planned for this past summer (which, of course, didn't happen, since it was to Canada), but part of the trip included 2 ferry rides (with the rig), one of which was overnight. We were fairly certain that we wouldn't be allowed to run the propane while the rig was down in storage for the trip, so my husband installed lithium batteries and an inverter. We now use the inverter while traveling.

[OurNewEra]

Lithium and an inverter would be an option. That or put in a 3-way fridge and run it on 12 v. Benefits to both. 3-way fridges aren't cheap and neither are lithium. About $1,000 per battery if I'm correct.

[Nrbsrsr]

I'm in the leave it on camp. I have noticed that on occasion it fails to switch to gas when we unplug shore power. In ALL cases this happens after our propane tanks have been turned off for a period of time and/or we have switched out our tanks. I now bleed my tanks through the stove and start the refrigerator on gas after turning on or changing tanks. After that we're good to go.